The day to day events of a K-8 Librarian and a lover of cooking , baking, and everything homemade : ) I decided to start blogging again to give me something to look back on to see what I did i my classroom and also a way of recording of my experiments in the kitchen. Thanks for reading my blog! Warning: My love of LSU sports may alter some of my entries; if that offends you, I am terribly sorry (Geaux Tigers : ) ).

Thursday, April 15, 2010

What a week?! Started off sick on Monday and have been suffering from insomnia since. The effects of insomnia have officially sunken in today, however. By 9 a.m. this morning, I thought 3:30 would never come. It was the longest, sleepiest day that I can remember having at school. This may have been caused from my marathon shopping trip to Walmart last night for the mother- daughter brunch on Saturday. Imagine buying 15 pineapples, tons of grapes, 10 cartons of strawberries, watermelons, melons, and 8 cantaloups, amongst other groceries for the brunch portion of the morning. I had a good helper with me,though, so I didn't have to do the loading and unloading all by myself. I will blog more about that after Saturday.

Tonight was my night to cook and I found several recipes this week that I wanted to try, so I managed to pick just one. I decided on Fiesta Chicken with a pepperjack dipping sauce. It was sooooo yummy. The link you may have just noticed is the basic recipe, however, i managed to change it to my likings-which you will see below. With the chicken, I paired loaded mashed potatoes, roasted corn on the cob, and blueberry lime-aid. YUMMO : - )

Fiesta Chicken and Dipping Sauce

1 pack of boneless chicken strips

1 packet of taco seasoning

1/4 cup of flour

1 stick of butter

1 bag of crushed tortilla chips

2 tbs of butter

1 shallot, minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3 tbs. of flour

12 oz. of heavy cream

1 block of shredded pepper jack cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheet with foil.

In a bowl, mix taco mix and flour. Melt butter in a separate bowl.

Coat each chicken strip in flour mixture.

Coat flour covered chicken in butter.

Coat butter covered chicken in chips.

Place on baking sheet and bake for 30 -40 minutes. Flip tenders after 15 minutes.

In a small saucepan, cook shallot and garlic in butter until soft.

Add flour and stir until you see a light brown color - a roux.

Add cream and stir until sauce begins to thicken.

Add cheese and stir until you have a bubbly cheese sauce.

Loaded Mashed Potatoes

1 3 lb. bag of red potatoes, chopped in quarters

1 stick of butter

1 8 oz. tub of sour cream

1 bag of shredded cheese

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 packet of ranch mix

bacon bits - real or fake is up to you.

chopped green onion

splash of milk - if needed

Boil potatoes in salted water (i like the skins on, but that is up to you).

Drain and return to pot.

Add garlic and mash potatoes, leaving them a little chunky.

Add butter, sour cream, and ranch packet.

Add a splash of milk if your potatoes are still really thick and hard to stir.

Fold in 2/3 of the cheese, bacon bits, salt, pepper, and green onion.

Serve alongside your favorite dish.

Add remaining cheese, bacon, and onion for garnish.

Roasted Corn on the Cob

This may be one of the easiest, best tasting, summer dishes that I make!! Nothing reminds me more of summer that roasted corn.

Corn on the Cob

3 tbs. of olive oil

a dollop of butter for each ear.

salt

Place corn on a cookie sheet.

Drizzle with oil.

Place a dollop of butter on each ear.

Sprinkle with salt.

Place in oven and bake for 20 -30 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with butter and a little more salt.

Blueberry Lime- Aid

Another one of my most favorite things in the entire world - lime-aid!! LOVE all sorts of lime-aid!!!! I have made this all sorts of ways, but I will give you the easiest recipe!

1 bag of frozen blueberries

2 containers of frozen lime-aid concentrate

water

1/4 cup of sugar

Mix each can of lime-aid with 2 cans of water ( 4 cans of water total).

Add sugar and mix well.

Add bag of blueberries (including any juice that may have been created). - also i like mine still a little frozen so I can use them as ice.

Mix and serve over ice.

So that was a little long, sorry. I have a bad habit of forgetting about school on Fridays. It would be nice if they would just cancel school on Fridays, but that will never happen so I should just stop wishing.